Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a housing for a compact electronic equipment.
Description of the Prior Art
A decrease in size and an increase in performance of electronic devices have enabled a decrease in size and an increase in performance of an electronic equipment. On the other hand, following the decrease in size and an increase in density of the electronic equipment, a quantity of heat generating from the electronic equipment per unit volume thereof tends to increase, and it is therefore necessary for the electronic equipment to employ a housing capable of realizing efficient heat radiation.
An example of a housing for a compact electronic equipment in the prior art will now be described with reference to FIG. 1. The compact electronic equipment is adapted to be placed on a desk or a shelf. The housing constituted of a lower housing 2 and a cover 4. The lower housing 2 is constituted of a bottom plate 6, a front wall 8, a rear wall 10, and a pair of side walls 11. The front wall 8, the rear wall 10 and the side walls 11 are integrally connected to the bottom plate 6. The cover 4 is constituted of a flat top 12 and a pair of side walls 14 integrally formed with the flat top 12.
Reference numeral 18 denotes a printed wiring board on which a plurality of electronic devices 20 such as LSIs, resistors, and capacitors are mounted. Further, a plurality of connectors 22 are mounted on a rear end portion of the printed wiring board 18.
A front cover 16 is detachably mounted on the front wall 8 of the lower housing 2. A plurality of metal fixtures 24 for fixing the printed wiring board 18 with screws at a raised position from the bottom plate 6 are provided on the side walls 11 of the lower housing 2. The rear wall 10 of the lower housing 2 is provided with a plurality of insert windows 26 through which external connectors to be connected to the connectors 22 mounted on the printed wiring board 18 are to be inserted.
Both the side walls 14 of the cover 12 are provided with a plurality of cooling vent holes 28. The cover 12 is fixedly coupled to the lower housing 2 by overlapping the side walls 14 of the cover 12 with the side walls 11 of the lower housing 2 and fixing the whole together by means of screws. Some of the electronic devices 20 to be mounted on the printed wiring board 18, which are required to be cooled, are devices with radiating fins. Alternatively, a radiating member is fixed to the bottom plate 6, and heat generating devices are mounted on the radiating member. The heat generating devices are connected through lead wires to the printed wiring board 18.
However, in the conventional housing for the compact electronic equipment mentioned above, the number of the constituent parts is large, and a decrease in size and a reduction in cost are limited. Furthermore, in an aspect of heat radiation, heat resistance in a radiation path from the radiating fins to the atmosphere is large, so that the size of the housing cannot be reduced.
Further, in the case that the heat generating devices are mounted on the radiating member fixed to the bottom plate, it is necessary to form a large hole for wiring connection through the printed wiring board, and additionally the maintainability of the electronic equipment is reduced.